Professional Ham Holder - Technical Mode

There are those who enjoy eating ham and there are those who also enjoy cutting it, living the passion of the world of ham at its best. Well, if you are one of them, there is nothing like having an indispensable tool at home, such as the famous ham holder. This "Technical Mode" professional ham holder is designed for domestic use, it is the simplest model of our range of ham holders but it perfectly fulfils its function: to fix the ham or ham shoulder so that it does not move and we can cut it comfortably.

Characteristics of the "Technical Mode" Ham Holder

Comfortable and practical ham holder to use at home or even at professional level. This is the cheapest of the range offered by Enrique Tomás, always maintaining the highest quality. As far as functionality is concerned, the "Technical Mode" ham holder stand is the ideal height to cut the best slices of ham without any problems. In addition, it has two fixing points in the form of a fitting, one with a clamping screw for the hoof and the other in the form of a V with a spike for butt end.

Made of first quality Galician pine wood. Metal fittings.

Ham cut with a knife

It is important to bear in mind that the slicing of ham is as important as any other moment in the process of making an Iberian ham, because if it is not done properly, it could end up with the nuances of our star product. "Hand cutting has, unlike machine cutting, a certain liturgy that makes it more enjoyable.... It has, like all craft or manual activities, a human connotation, a feeling, an energy, an “I don’t know what” that machines do not have, no matter how precise they may be. This is the explanation that Enrique Tomás himself offers us in the book Jamón for Dummies.

What is a Jamón and how is it made?

A jamón is the result of dry curing a pig's hind leg in salt. Depending on the type of pig and its diet, the months of curing vary substantially and its taste will also vary. Due to the large amount of meat in the same jamón, we will find different flavours: the “maza” is the softest part, the “contramaza” the tastiest and as we approach the bone we find more intensity.

Once we have the pig's leg ready, the first thing we have to do is prepare it for salting. The “cook” (the expert as we call them here) makes a v-cut on the pig's rind and decides how much external fat to leave. The more fat the leg has, the less salt it absorbs and the sweeter it gets. Once the previous operation has been performed, the leg is buried in salt for an average of two weeks. If the cook decides to extend this period, the jamón will be tastier. From that moment on, depending on the type of jamón we are going to make, the characteristics of the leg and the flavour we want to obtain, the leg will be hung in the special cellar to dry until it is optimum for consumption.